


Theory and Practice

by ClementRage



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Collegefic, Difficult to Describe, Drama, Horror, Humour, Romance, as canon compliant as I can make it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2019-11-13 14:42:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18033644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClementRage/pseuds/ClementRage
Summary: As she begins writing her thesis in Junon, Lucrecia's attention is caught by one of her peers. There may be much more to him than there appears, but does she really want to find out?





	1. Ambition

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, folks, a couple of notes. 
> 
> 1\. Gillian will occasionally be called 'Gill' in the text. This may be spelled 'Gill', but it is pronounced 'Jill'.
> 
> 2\. The opinions expressed in this fic are those of the individual characters, not the author or the website. As the future Shinra Science department, it would be out of character for these people not to have certain opinions about human experimentation and Arts Students.

Sometimes, Lucrecia found, it was hard to be a genius.

Junon University was newly established and tech focused, and Lucrecia’s research articles had been instrumental in transforming the kernel of its reputation to cutting edge science instead of near daily beach parties. The also newly established Shinra Military Academy was nearby, and the local A&Es had filed three official complaints about the workload various violent clashes and star crossed romances forced on them on a regular basis when both sets of students hit the beach. As the poster child for all the best parts of the college, Lucrecia had a reputation to maintain. Which was why it was slightly problematic to be thrown out of a bar.

Being friends with Gillian Tchaikovsky had its challenges. Gillian was Banoran, and combined one of the best scientific minds in the university with Banora’s traditional skills at close quarters combat, skills she was not afraid to display when someone impugned her honour. Sight of her multi coloured stripy hair (currently alternating stripes of red, green, and blue) at 500m could make people all across the town suddenly turn polite. Unfortunately, they’d run into the rare exceptions tonight, which was why Gillian had a split lip and black eye. And yes, the other guy was worse.

“I guess this is goodnight,” Lucrecia said once they hit the streets, but Gillian was already shaking her head.

“Nuh-uh, you are celebrating tonight if I have to handcuff you. That research grant money isn’t going to spend itself.”

“So, what, you’re trying to get me expelled now?”

“Yup!” Gillian said cheerfully, “then I’ll take you home and lock you in the barn and we’ll do beautiful science together under the moonlight until you get the reshpect you deserve. We’ll show them! WE’LL SHOW THEM ALLLL! AHAHAHAHAHA!”

“When are you going to stop saying that?” Lucrecia said, trying to be annoyed and failing.

“When it stops being accurate,” Gillian said, shrugging. “Or are you telling me that your scientific accomplishments are within the ken of mortal man?”

Lucrecia considered this for a moment, then smiled. “Point.”

“Damn straight. In the meantime, are you coming to the beach or do I have to get some shackles?”

“Fine, I’ll come! But no fighting!”

“Done!”, Gillian said, suddenly steadier on her feet. Lucrecia tried to hit her, but found it had turned into a hug mid swing.

* * *

 

Junon beaches were not quite so idyllic as the Costan ones, but at this time of year when you had the weather, they could really be something special. It was currently edging towards night, but there was enough heat that it wasn’t unpleasant, so they got drinks from an enterprising trader near the bonfire (there was always at least one bonfire) and settled down to watch the sea and gauge the mood.

There was the usual loud guy in a horrific purple and orange floral shirt, who seemed to think he was organising things, a few military girls shooting into the sea, various pairs in semi secluded spots, several determined fishermen unwilling to cede the beach… and one man on a beachchair above the high tide line, reading.

She hadn’t expected to see him here. Tarquin Hojo was, by most reasonable metrics, a singularly charmless man. He seemed either entirely incapable of concealing his disdain for everyone else, or just uninterested in doing so. She knew of him from a particularly scathing critique he’d written on one of her articles. While the vitriol was probably excessive, the actual critique was well reasoned, although she still felt her conclusions stood. Few people could argue Lucrecia Crescent point for point, and even fewer bothered to try these days.

She’d never met the man face to face, but his reputation was of a scathing creature that held everyone he encountered in contempt. Therefore, it was something of a surprise to see him surrounded by attractive young women in swimsuits.

Gillian followed her gaze and smirked. “ Hojo? Really?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Lucrecia said politely. Gillian was just messing with her, but she knew a surprising amount of people would interpret any interaction at all as a declaration of true love.

“What is he doing here?”

Gillian shrugged. “He spends a lot of time on the beach, apparently. Originally, it was alone, but then somehow the entourage happened. No, I don’t know how.”

As she watched, Awful Purple Shirt sauntered up to Hojo’s beach chair, six pack in hand, with his shirt carefully left open enough to reveal another one. He was wearing a bright smile, and her initial assumption was that he had been drawn in by the swimsuit girls, but Hojo was the one he addressed first.

“Hey, want a drink?”

Hojo twitched aside his labcoat (on the beach? Really?) revealing the butt of a six shot revolver holstered under his right arm. “Go away.”

Floral Shirt burst out laughing, completely unafraid. "Compelling point. If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

Hojo continued to stare as the boy in the horrible purple shirt walked away. Then he returned to his book.

“Have we seen a new addition to the Tarky Hojo Fanclub? Will he overcome his struggles with the dress code? Tune in next week to find out!” Gillian said happily.

They both stretched out of the sand, and Gillian cast another glance over at the labcoated Hojo and his fans. “It is weird, though. What do you make of it, Lu?”

“Insufficient data. Seems shady somehow, though.”

Lucrecia was not so naïve that she thought otherwise intelligent women could be suborned by force of personality, but Hojo was so uniquely charmless that the entourage was hard to credit. “Worth looking into.”

Whatever his hold was over those girls, it seemed likely there was something unsavoury about it.

“You planning to infiltrate?” Gillian asked, smiling and folding her arms behind her head. “You would look good in the costume, at least.”

“A bit unsubtle,” Lucrecia said, stretching out herself. Having arrived from a bar, neither of them were currently in swimsuits, just lounging on beach chairs someone had left lying around. Back in the day, Lucrecia had placed highly in several ‘Most Beautiful person on campus’ polls, some of which she had actually entered. Her undergrad years had been rather…eventful, but these days she was more of a ‘drink in peace’ celebrator, especially as she was kind of the face of the productive side of the college these days. It had closed some doors.

Meanwhile, Gillian had started out as a quiet country girl that blossomed as she got older, and was easily the closest mind to hers on campus, probably including the faculty. They’d met at a scholarship dinner, and lost little time in corrupting each other, meeting in the happy middle ground where an active social life coincided with an eighty five percent average exam score.

“He’s got some kind of hold over them, that’s not natural. It really is worth looking into.”

Gillian raised her head. “Really? Well, be careful, you don’t want to get sucked into his shadow.”

“Gill, the man may have skills, but I’m still me. Not fucking likely.”

Gillian saluted her with her drink, and they settled in to enjoy their evening.

* * *

 

The next morning, Lucrecia had her first meeting with her thesis supervisor.

Simon Martinovic was a much loved professor, largely because while excellent at teaching, he was also close to retirement, had tenure, and therefore didn’t give a fuck, which made him excellent company.

“Oh, welcome! Did you want to outline your thesis, or would you rather not spoil the surprise?”

He kept a kettle boiling day and night, and had gone to some lengths to customise his office. Most buildings on campus were of burnished grey steel, and his room was no exception, but he’d gone to some effort putting in bookshelves and a fake brick fireplace to hide the shiny grey walls. Added to his elbow length white hair, and the office at the top of a tower, he seemed to be impersonating the Cosmo Canyon Elders he’d studied under forty years ago for some reason, or else was cosplaying a wizard for his own amusement.

In the moment, his somehow twinkly but piercing gaze had fallen on her, and Lucrecia gathered herself. “Are you allowed to do that?”

Simon smiled. “Don’t be silly, or course not! But I want to see what Lucrecia Crescent does when she’s let off the leash and I think you do too.”

She accepted her teacup and stared into it, considering. He was of course, correct that the limits of the university ethos had felt constraining through her undergrad years, forcing her to make an effort to give her professors what they wanted to maintain her average. Now she had the chance to show the world what she was made of. She took another sip of tea, then looked back. “I’ll think about it.”

Simon gave a knowing smile. “Fair enough. Anything else you’d like to discuss?”

There were several logistical issues that had to be dealt with, but she was surprised to find the first topic on her mind was something else. “I was on the beach last night, and-”

“The beach? You? Surely not!”

Her flat look silenced him. “Are you familiar with a man named Tarquin Hojo?”

Simon’s face twisted. “Oh, yes… Him.”

“I was on the beach last night, and I couldn’t help but notice that, well…”

“His… entourage, I presume? Yes. You’re not the first to bring this to our attention, unfortunately.”

“Unfortunately?” Lucrecia said, raising her eyebrows, although hers were less impressive than his big bushy white ones. Possibly he curled them.

“We know of him, but there’s very little we can do.” While this was often the cry of the uncaring, she could see Martinovic’ very real unhappiness in his eyes. Still, she had to ask. As Junon’s campus queen, she could bring a lot of pressure to bear if she chose, and the trustees knew it.

“Is that so?”

“I’m afraid so. Absent evidence of coercion or money changing hands, it’s not illegal or against campus rules to have young women in swimsuits follow you around. No one has been able to figure out how he does it. And we’ve tried.”

Lucrecia narrowed her eyes. “So there’s really nothing you can do?”

“Nothing useful. We could change the rules, but that’s a double edged sword. A simple ban could easily just drive them out of sight where we can’t keep an eye on them, and that could lead to worse things happening off the radar. If we shut them down, we need evidence of criminal wrongdoing so we can lock Hojo away somewhere, rather than just taking his entourage somewhere we can’t see them. You’re not the first to have concerns, but our options are limited. Truly.”

Lucrecia gave this some serious thought. She could see their point of view, but it didn’t seem like tolerating this could lead to any positive outcomes. Something would have to be done, and if the faculty wouldn’t do it, it seemed as though it would be down to her. A side project, perhaps, while she was writing her thesis. Lucrecia had yet to encounter a problem she couldn’t resolve by applying her intellect, and while she was the college’s star student, she had to influence to enact her solutions. She drained her tea and stood.

“If you can’t or won’t move, I suppose it’s down to me. I’ll find you your evidence.” She turned to leave.

“Lucrecia.”

“Yes?”

“If you’re going to take this path, which I do not advise, please be careful. If there’s really something to discover, it may be dangerous to unearth it.”

“I understand, sir. I don’t plan to endanger myself. But if there’s something to find, I can’t let it lie."

“Then good luck. This conversation didn’t happen. I’ll see you next week to discuss thesis logistics.”

Lucrecia left the office invigorated. She’d come for a preliminary outline of her thesis, and now here she was playing private detective. This was going to be fun. 

* * *

 

When she had a project in mind, Lucrecia seldom wasted time in getting to work, and this time proved no exception. Three days later, she was teaching a tutorial on the life cycle of Nibel Dragons when she called aside one of the students as they were standing to leave.

Demestina Gatharian was a tall woman with boxer shoulders and an impressive frame, who she’d noticed among the swimsuit girls. She was also one of the sharpest people in the tutorial, and one of those most likely to challenge the tutor, they had had quite a few clashes over their association, and from the slightly haunted look in her eyes, Demmie remembered that too.

“A question, if I may,” Lucrecia opened, when enough of the other students had left, not without some curious backward glances.

Demmie shrugged. “I can’t stop you.”

“I happened to notice you on the beach the other day, and I wanted to-” She saw the other girl’s guard come up behind her eyes and snapped up a hand

“Relax. I’m not law enforcement, campus security, or the Committee on Decorum for Young Ladies. I just saw your group loitering around with Hojo and wondered if everything was okay. My interest is not to correct behaviour, I just want to ensure you are safe.”

Demmie’s guard didn’t fall completely, but she slid a smile on over it. “Want to sign up?”

“Hardly. I just want to understand your thought processes. What is it your crew do? How did it start?”

The smile didn’t waver. “We’re not exactly organised, but it’s mostly something like a homework club, I suppose.”

“And the dress code?”

Demmie laughed out loud. “Hey, if you’re on the beach anyway, why not grab some sun? It’s not like it’s enforced. We’d admit boys, but they tend to get distracted.” She stretched elaborately. “Can’t think why.”

“And Hojo doesn’t?” Another laugh. “Not that we noticed, and we’re watching quite hard. We had two eugenics girls try to get his genetic material, but that didn’t work out well for them. Nah, Hojo cares about one thing, and that’s science. He doesn’t even speak to you unless you have some scientific problem he can engage with. He mostly just sits there reading, like an umbrella that secretly holds you in contempt.”

Lucrecia said nothing, but some scepticism must have shown on her face. Demmie’s smile faded a little bit. “Look, I’ll round up the gang and you can come talk to us sometime. We’re not some crazy cult of personality, promise, and you’ll see that for yourself. Unless you want me to wear a wire?”

The smile returned, along with a significant glance down at her body and the two piece swimsuit she was not currently wearing. Lucrecia, legitimately amused, kept her teaching face on.

“I’ll take the meeting, thanks. Mabel’s fireplace, tomorrow night?”

“We’ll be there,” Demmie promised, and picked up her bag.

* * *

 

Mabel Blackthorn was well known to most of the college as a private contractor providing women only accommodation. She kept no rules as to gentlemen callers, pets, smoking, or the like, but any damage to any room was charged to whoever owned it, with no discussion. Violence from clients or guests was answered with violence, and many new undergrads regarded her as the enemy… until they happened to get into trouble of some kind, and found her one of their staunchest supporters.

She kept several sitting rooms in the front of the building for her girls to use for whatever they wanted, providing roaring fires and awful looking but inexplicably delicious cauldrons of soup on hand. Lucrecia and Gillian (brought along for moral support, security, and her eidetic memory) hadn’t been there in years, but nothing seemed to have changed.

“Motherfucker, you’re still alive!” Mabel said from her huge chair inside the door on their approach. “I was sure you’d be killed in some barfight by now, Gill!”

“I just can’t find the right calibre of fight,” Gillian said, shaking her head sadly.“Even the local monsters can’t cut it, back home, we had Head Hunters that go for the throat, the local breeds just want to give you a big fucking hug!” She took a wide armed Zemzellett stance, to a smile, before Mabel turned to Lucrecia.

“And Lu. Still sober and clean living?”

“Give or take,” Lucrecia said, with a significant glance at Gillian. All three of them kept entirely blank faces with grins hovering just beneath them.

“Aw, Don’t make me throw you out of nostalgia. So what brings you here?”

“We want to talk to some of your girls – no one’s in trouble, it’s just an interest of mine.” Mabel blinked. “There’s a group in the Granmalan room…the uh, beach enthusiasts?”

“That’s them. I have some questions about their lifestyle.”

There was a short silence involving Mabel choosing not to make a swimsuit related joke, and then her eyes narrowed. “Ah. Well, if you have any problems, you can handle them I’m sure. They don’t bring their company home, if that’s the question.”

Lucrecia thanked her and left, keeping her face blank, because Mabel carefully didn’t care who was brought into her building unless she judged them actually dangerous. Hojo was not a popular soul, it seemed. As they climbed the stairs to the sitting room with awful Granmalan patterned wallpaper, (but still super comfortable chairs) Mabel sat back in her chair with a cigar in her mouth and a shotgun in her lap. Demestina was waiting for them with a group of the girls, who all seemed to have brought their bags.

For some reason Lucrecia had been expecting them to still be in their swimsuits, but obviously they were dressed for indoors tonight. She opened the conversation, taking attention from Gillian’s roving eyes, marking names and faces. Gill’s memory was nearly perfect, while Lucrecia’s was merely very good, she’d be able to reel off names, faces and conversations verbatim later.

There were nine of them present today, with apologies sent from a few that were unable to make it (Lucrecia noted the missing names and resolved to find out if they had real reasons for not showing up), lounging around on various chairs, most of which straightened on her approach as Demmie introduced them. Lucrecia was paying attention, of course, but what she was really looking for was the social dynamic between the words, hints of bullying and pressure. If there was some rippling under the surface, it was well hidden. Not a few of them seemed a little dazzled at meeting campus legend Lucrecia Crescent in the flesh, but there were no obviously suspicious hesitations or nerves.

As they talked, she discovered that they were an eclectic group of people, with few common threads. There was no specific shared interest, personality or body type. Talking with them over the next hour or so, she found them a group of intelligent, opinionated women, who could and did get into technobabble heavy, passionate arguments on scientific detail. They were not necessarily all top of their class, but the enthusiasm was undeniable, and that was when she realised the connection.

The first was that they were all studying hard, practical science degrees, and they all deeply loved science. Nobody there was studying for the sake of money or convenience, the group loved and practiced science for its own sake. Above all, none of them appeared to have any illusions that Hojo cared about them or their wellbeing. Somehow that was actually part of the attraction of the whole affair, Hojo only spoke if you were sufficiently skilled in science to attract his interest.

It certainly wasn’t some vapid fanclub, and she couldn’t nail down anything actively dangerous… but she still left with the feeling that something was off.

Gillian had been circulating too, and they left after an hour or so, stopping at a café far enough from beach and college to not draw too many students.

It appeared to be a fisherfolk bar, with taxidermied prize catches on the walls and things like anchors hung up nearby. They found a cosy corner table to compare notes and ordered what turned out to be possibly the finest beer in Junon.

“So what are you thinking?” Gillian said, once they refocused from their drinks enough to talk.

“They’re giving all the right answers… but something feels wrong.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean… can’t nail it down, though.”

“Heh, tell a gut feeling to a judge or a scientist, hey? Simon was right, private detective-ing is harder than it looks. Something’s off, but what? What’s so weird about it?”

“Nothing’s outright wrong…and yet…”

“… I feel like if Hojo didn’t want a creepy cult of personality, he wouldn’t have a creepy cult of personality.”

Gillian nodded after a moment. “Yeah, we saw how he deals with unwanted guests.” She mimed pulling a gun.

“That’s it, then. Definitely something up with this.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“…Wait and watch, for now. They’re not stupid and I still have a thesis to write. Best we can do.”

Gillian gave a slow nod. “Alright. 50 gil says we get him expelled by the end of the semester.”

They contemplated calling in the cheque, but decided to have another few drinks while they were here. The barmaid looked them over when they approached. She wasn’t much older than them and was missing several front teeth from some kind of impact to her face.

“Are you two…okay?”

Lucrecia blinked. “Far as I know.”

“What’s this about a cult?” _Shit._

“It’s a… campus thing, there’s no risk to y’all.”

The barmaid gave them another hard look, registered their apparent calm, then shrugged. “Okay then. Not my problem. If there’s any… trouble, though, you ought to let us know. We’ve had press gangs before.”

Lucrecia and Gillian did not exchange sceptical glances, because they were not fools. “We will… certainly bear that in mind,” Gillian said, and bought another two drinks instead of leaving, because it was wonderful.

Lucrecia looked across the table at her friend. “Thanks for coming, by the way. I know you’ve got your own stuff to do.”

Gillian shrugged. “I am offended by the implication that I might have more to learn from this college. But enough about cultists, we should celebrate. To the awesome world changing thesis you’re going to create, Lu!”

They clinked glasses, knocked them back. Lucrecia didn’t know what was ahead of her, but it seemed obvious that the future was bright.


	2. Territory

Lofty aspirations aside, eventually Lucrecia had to get back to work.

Her second meeting with Martinovic managed to actually deal with some of the logistics of her thesis, even if she could not yet report the ruin of Hojo and all that he held dear. She made an effort to keep an eye on his entourage and the man himself, but the vigil reluctantly gave way to her other responsibilities as time passed. Most days found her sprawled on the couch surrounded by books and notes, downstairs in the house she shared with Gillian, who was working on her own thesis, but tended not to bring her work home from the library as often.

She kept in touch with some of the Hojo cultists, but didn’t venture near the beach too often, in case the man himself was paying more attention than he appeared. Which meant that of her nights away, she was more likely to be at her normal string of bars than loitering on the beach. And while her newly discovered fisherfolk Bar (Rafael’s) gained new patrons, for student social lives there was no topping Selene’s.

The front of the bar was arranged in three sections. One was primarily for the science schools, one was primarily for graduates of the military school, which were placed opposite each other behind railings that were up three steps. The rest of the bar, between the two sections, was neutral ground, and was commonly used for star crossed romances, contests, and rarely, collaborative events.

Today, Gillian and Lucrecia were ensconced at their table near the back, which was their right as Junon’s Science Queens, when they became aware of noise near the entrance to the Science section. A glance towards the railing cleared things up quickly, as they could see five scrubbed up young interlopers attempting to mount the stairs.

“Oh, it’s Mining Week already?” Gillian noted, perking up a bit.

The Mythril Miners passed through town twice a year, on their way to and from the mines. They were usually in town for about a week while they waited for the ore to be loaded (they could take passenger ferries if they were in a hurry or had a taste for luxury, but usually preferred the free fare if they waited a week to get space on the cargo haulers). They tended to hit the town in the interim, easily identifiable by their pale faces and enormous builds. Of these five, four of them easily cleared six foot (including one of the girls) and the other wasn’t far short of it. Whether their tastes ran to romance or violence, Mining week tended to be memorable for Junon’s population.

They were attempting to step up to the Science section of the bar, and had been confronted by some undergrads. “This here is the science section, you guys ain’t part of it.” Not knowing about Mining Week, they were probably first years.

“Oh yeah?” said the biggest miner, stepping back as the five miners clustered together defensively. “What, there’s an entry fee?”

“Only intelligent people get to drink up here, you got to answer a science question.” Normally, this was true, but it was usually suspended for Mining Week.

The miners exchanged dubious glances. The leader, who must have been 6’5’’, glanced at his compatriots. “What do you think?”

The girl by his side, a mere 5’ 11’’1/2, shrugged. “Can’t hurt.”

“Alright, give us your best shot.”

The undergrad grinned. “Okay, in deference to your abilities, I’ll make it an easy one… how far is the earth from the sun?”

A pause, then one of the other miners said “93 million miles.” Rounded a bit, but basically correct. The other miners looked at him. He shrugged. “What? I read.” Several bar patrons cheered. The undergrad could try to weasel out of it, but in a bar full of science grads, he was unlikely to not be called on it, and stepped aside.

The miner took one step, then hesitated. “You know what? Let’s go somewhere else.”

The others nodded, and he stepped across the aisle to the entrance to the military section, to cheers from inside. “What about this side, you got a secret handshake?”

“Fraid so,” said a girl moving to the front. She didn’t look especially bulked up, but Lucrecia saw one of the military sections own 6’8’’ hulks step back sharply out of her way as she moved to the steps. She set her arm on a coffee table nearby.

“You have to beat me best of three.” The miners, all of which outweighed her, smiled. One of them narrowed his eyes, though.

“You have a robot hand or something?”

Military girl examined her arm, which was bare. “Hmm… y’know, I don’t think so. Let’s ask the scientists.” She snapped into what Lucrecia would later find out was a casting stance. “Summon!”

She waited a short time for the scientists’ distaste for being treated like a summon monster to lose out to their urge to impart wisdom to the masses. It didn’t take long before she had an answer from an engineer, that robotic prosthetics lacked her range of motion and certainly weren’t undetectable. Answer got, she smiled at the miners. “See? No tricks.”

They still hesitated, and military girl rolled her eyes. “Really? It’s not such a huge decision here, guys. Look, I’ll even show you my tattoos if you win.”

Suspicious Miner appeared to become even more suspicious. “That a euphemism?”

“It was, but I’m willing to compromise. You want to get up here or not?”

After a moment, Suspicious Miner gave in, although he still seemed to expect a trap at any moment. As it turned out, he won 2 of 3, although it was obvious even to Lucrecia’s inexperienced eye that Military Girl wasn’t trying very hard, which didn’t help allay his suspicions.

Glancing to the side, she realised Gillian was no longer beside her. After a pause to laugh hard, she also left her seat.

Victorious, Suspicious Miner still hesitated to climb the steps. Military Girl sighed. “You want to go somewhere else to feel safe?”

“I suggest the beach,” Gillian said, descending the steps from the science gallery, startling several of them.

Suspicious Miner laughed. “You ever see what happens when you let a miner out in the sun?” He mimed a fiery explosion.

“We could figure something out. I’ll have Lu here-” Lucrecia had just reached them, “invent SPF 5000 suncream for you.”

Suspicious Miner appeared to become still more suspicious. “I think I want to go home. Anyone else? Elza?”

One of the other girls glanced at him. “No thanks. I’ve been waiting six months to get the fuck away from y’all.” They all smiled, presumably this was some kind of inside joke. Gillian and Military Girl exchanged exasperated looks.

Huge Miner suddenly burst out laughing. “Alright, J, I’ll spare you the ordeal of being escorted back to your lodgings by beautiful women. I’ll come too. You don’t want to be outnumbered in such situations.”

“Thanks, Kell.” Sincere.

Lucrecia was interested now. This was a fairly unusual reaction to this situation.

 

She stepped up. “I’ll guarantee these two’s good behaviour, if it helps.”

She flashed her student ID, which carried a great deal of weight in this town.

Kell glanced at her. “You too? If I’d known a vow of celibacy was so attractive, I’d have done it long ago.”

“It only works if you keep it,” Lucrecia reminded him, smirking inwardly as this provoked two stealthy but sharp glances from Gillian and Military Girl.

The other three miners elected to stay at the bar, but not before handing over envelopes to …J? who gravely stowed them inside his jacket. Then they set off. All of J’s paranoia apparently had availed him little. If they really had been a gang of thieves, Lucrecia was fairly certain she could have figured out a way to get to their collective wages. And while the two miners possibly outweighed the three women, one of them seemed to be some kind of well respected military officer, and the other was gifted fighter Gillian. In this one aspect, Lucrecia herself had few combat capabilities, restricting her role to that of the evil mastermind.

Military girl introduced herself as Tanya, giving no rank or title, surrendering her holster to one of her friends before following them. Before she put on her jacket, Lucrecia noted tattoos on both her shoulders, displaying Wutai characters for ‘Hope’ and Luck’ (she could read Wutai, Gillian could not). This was getting more interesting by the minute.

They made a few stops before heading back to a cheap Inn near the docks, no extravagance, but extremely clean and well kept. The kid on the front desk waved them in disinterestedly, as J disappeared up to their rooms. By the time they followed, he was closing a large safe and set his back against it. His sheer weight would prove a more difficult challenge, had they been thieves, which was looking more tempting by the moment. Perhaps a career change was in order.

_A plasma torch could totally get through that..._

“So,” said Kell, happily settling on the mats, “I apologise for my friend’s actions, he’s just a bit jumpy around strangers. Welcome to our humble abode.”

He made tea and handed them around. In accordance with her standard policy, Lucrecia took it but didn’t drink. J kept his back against the door of the safe. Tanya and Gillian settled on the ground nearby, leaving Lucrecia to carry the conversation.

“Thanks. So how’d you get into Mythril Mining?”

Kell shrugged.

“We’re from Corel, coal mining families. Coal dust fucks up your lungs, though, mythril is safer. Our [parents wanted us to get a better chance at life than they did. How’d you get into science?”

Lucrecia smiled. “Well, you know, it’s always been my passion.” She flicked a meaningful glance at her compatriots. “Can’t speak for these two, though.”

A technobabble heavy discussion of mining techniques ensued, leaving Lucrecia in the very rare position of having little clue what was going on. Gillian actually knew something about mining, but Mako was different enough from Mythril that she couldn’t quite keep up. Tanya knew less, thus could ask a lot of questions.

Meanwhile, Kell and Lu had fun throwing jabs at all of them and trying to keep straight faces watching J slowly thaw due to the not inconsiderable charms of Tanya and Gillian. Not enough to move away from his seat, though.

Eventually, it became clear that J wasn’t moving until his friends came back. When they failed to return by 3am, Lucrecia dragged the other two outside and began the walk home.

“Your assessment, Lu?” Gillian asked, once they were at a safe distance.

“He wasn’t going to budge.”

“You sound sure, “ Tanya said, her voice carefully neutral.

“The rest of their crew handed over six months wages to him without hesitating. You don’t do that for someone that breaks his word. He made some kind of promise.”

“And the ‘vow of celibacy?’”

“Another promise, I think.”

“Just my luck, ”Gillian said, tossing her head. “to find the one fucking dude on the continent that happens to have a vow of celibacy and actually try to keep it. Anything else?”

“He’s got a scar, or an embarrassing tattoo or something. He turned down the prospect of you two in swimsuits at the beach, because he would have had to shed his shirt.”

Tanya raised her eyebrows. “Jumping to conclusions a bit?”

“Her conclusions tend to be pretty reliable,” Gillian pointed out, “You know who this is?”

“Junon’s Science Queen, yes. Still, though.”

“There are alternative possibilities,” Lucrecia admitted, but I’m broadly confident of my assessment. He’s not actually uninterested, he’s controlling his eyes and not letting them wander, and mining isn’t really a trade for the shy. ‘Hey guys, I hate to interrupt but the shaft is collapsing and we’re all gonna die if we don’t move’.”

She paused briefly to allow Gillian to get the obvious sex joke out of her system, but Tanya spoke first.

“So, if Science doesn’t work out, have you considered becoming a private detective?”

“I shall take up smoking immediately,” Gillian said for some reason, nodding solemnly.

The conversation continued in this vein for some time, until they arrived back at Lu and Gill’s house. Somewhat surprisingly, Gillian invited her in for more tea, and she accepted.

“I do have one more burning question,” Gillian asked, after handing over the mug. “Do you actually have more tattoos?”

Tanya smiled. “Of course. It’s not much of a euphemism if the direct meaning doesn’t stand up.”

She turned away and tugged up the back of her top. The scientists’ breaths both caught. Junon was a busy port town, tattoos were not exactly uncommon. They’d seen gang tattoos. They’d seen sailor tattoos. But this one was _art._

Between Tanya’s lean, powerful shoulders was a realistic dragon glittering in green, red and gold, wings spread for battle. It was the most beautiful tat either of them had ever seen, with one more notable characteristic. In front of the dragon’s spread jaws, pointed down between her shoulder blades, was a fist sized burn.

Gillian’s field was, strictly speaking, not medicine, but she probably knew more about it than three average doctors, and Lucrecia could see her drawing conclusions about the burn behind her eyes, which she chose not to share.

Tanya finished her drink and agreed to meet them tomorrow for more futile Miner seducing, before leaving for her own lodgings. If nothing else happened over mining week, it seemed they might have made a new friend.


	3. Honour and Loyalty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing in this fic should be taken any kind of guideline to relationships, personal safety, or anything else. Also, it is inadvisable to create poisonous suncream outside lab conditions.

“I have good news, and bad news.”

Lucrecia announced. Gillian raised her eyebrows, inviting her to elaborate.

“The good news is, it works. My formula is impenetrable to solar radiation, and should remain so even in the event that you end up taking a romantic detour to low orbit, although I can make fewer guarantees if you decide to go to deep space or close to the sun.” Given that humanity had yet to reach space, this would be quite an achievement, but Gill was not to be underestimated.

“I’ll save that for the second date, I think,” Gillian said. A stranger would have thought her entirely serious.

“Probably wise. I do, however, have some bad news.”

Gillian waited. “It’s half an inch thick at minimum and nearly frictionless.”

There was a pause, as they both contemplated the logistics of romance for someone coated in half an inch of slippery slime, and cracked up.

“Aww, so close. The great Lucrecia Crescent finally misses one.”

“Hey! It works! There may be minor side effects, but your beloved will be unburned. Granted, he may be suffocated, or suffer a tragic fall, and possibly be poisoned from fumes, but-”

“Hwahaha! Betrayal! Treachery from my best friend!”

“For Science! And Love! And Weirdly Paranoid Miners!” This could have continued for some time, but the security guard chose that moment to knock ominously on the lab’s outer door with her baton.

Lucrecia glanced back. “Oh, hi Wendy.”

The guard sighed. “You two. Always you two. What’s so vitally important this time?”

“Research,” Lucrecia said, holding her straight face.. “I’m doing a side project to help finance my thesis.”

Another sigh. “Fine. We’re closing for the night, be out of here in an hour.”

“Yessum,” Lucrecia said, with a deliberately awful attempt at a military salute.

Wendy laughed, but tapped her baton on the door once more before moving on. They began to pack up their gear, which took some time, as they had to get out of the HAZMAT suits.

While she had access to most of the college facilities as Junon’s Science Queen, the cosmetics labs were actually a rare exception, forcing her adventures in suncream production to take place in the astrophysics labs, with all its advantages and disadvantages. “Sorry Gill. This seems to be the best I can do.”

“I’d accept SPF 2000 in a pinch.”

“Not before the end of the week. Given that he’s lying about why he’s staying off the beach in the first place, you may have to rely on other methods of seduction than poisonous suncream.”

She sold the formula to the Aerospace Dept on the way out for 50,000 gil, equivalent to four years of tuition fees. In her improvised pitch, she managed to fight down the urge to mention its applications for vampire miner sex. But it was close.

* * *

 

“How do I look?” Gillian asked, twirling her shin length red skirt. She wanted to impress today.

“The warts are back,” Lucrecia pointed out helpfully, lying.

“Great. Time to update my Lonely Hearts Ad.”

Lucrecia arched back over the couch laughing, and whacked Gillian with the Tonberry soft toy she kept around specifically for Gillian-whacking. Even their combined intelligence had failed to determine how someone had managed to make, pitch and bring to market an admittedly cute cuddly toy of the most terrifyingly dangerous monsters on the Planet.

They’d gone home to change. After intensive negotiations, the miners had agreed to go to the beach tonight, once it was dark enough that they could do so with being forced to shed their skins the morning after.

Lucrecia was fairly certain that Paranoid Miner Dude would maintain his vow of celibacy, but expected to have fun watching Gill and Tanya try to persuade him otherwise. “Honestly, I’m just impressed you managed to find yourself in a love triangle. I didn’t think they were real.” she said aloud.

“More of a ‘love V’ at this point, until he reciprocates. Or maybe a line? A vector?” They argued geometry for five minutes or so, then it was time to go.

Lucrecia caught Gill’s shoulder at the door.

“You do look great, honestly. But there’s no legislating for idiots.”

“Duly noted.”

They linked arms and left.

* * *

When they got to the bar, they found the miners in the middle of a group of military cadets on the bar’s main floor. J, Kell, and Elza had turned up tonight, the other two miners presumably back at the Inn guarding the money and/or sleeping off hangovers.

Kell was talking as they entered. “See, I reckon soldiery stuff ain’t that different from mining. You absolutely have to trust the people you’re with, cause if you’re not careful, what happens down a mine can stay down there. Accidents happen.”

“Yeah? What do you mean?” This from one of the military’s standard seven foot hulks.

Kell snapped a hand over to J. “You’re up, my friend.”

“What?”

“Come on, seize the fucking day. You’re embarrassing me. Gotta do something to deserve all this attention.”

J sighed, but began. “I got tricked once into pulling three twelve hour shifts in two days. But I’d given my word, so I did it. I was hallucinating by the finish, crying for my mom, it nearly killed me.”

“For the uninitiated,” Kell said, a hard edge creeping into his voice, “ ‘nearly killed me’ “ in this instance, does not mean ‘I was really tired.’ We had to carry him out to the medics. There’s debate, but that really could have killed him.”

Several hisses. “So what did you do to that guy?” Tanya said, from across the table.

J blinked. “Nothing. But nobody ever worked with him again, or trusted his word. He couldn’t swap shifts when he needed to, even when his kid was born. On the other hand, my people took care of me, and they knew I could be trusted. Any time it was his word against someone else’s, who did they believe? I kept my word when it was obviously stupid to do so, and now everyone in that mine knows beyond doubt they can trust me.”

“And all you had to do was nearly die.”

“That was my mistake. Being honourable doesn’t mean ‘let everyone else fuck you over’, but keeping your word even when it’s twisted shows people that you take your promises seriously.”

“And on that note we’ll have to leave it, for your groupies are here!” Kell said, gesturing grandly. Tanya shot him a look across the table. “Sorry. Your other groupies are here!”

He fielded several glares, including Elza’s without flinching. “Look, it’s not my fault that this dude’s weird dickishness is so attractive. Onward, friends! To the beach!”

Tanya brought a few of her military friends, and they set out. It was not a particularly long walk, but they attracted a few curious glances along the way. Interdepartmental parties of this size were unusual.

Hojo was on the beach when they got there, of course, along with his entourage, along with the usual lifeguards, bonfire drunks, and fisherfolk, but the beach was slightly less populated than usual. As it was just beginning to get dark, nobody was in swimwear. The miners had the slightly pained expressions of people thinking ‘must not explode out of expensive clothes’, and were scrubbed and in white shirts, which obviously they wouldn’t leave behind on the sand.

Tanya and Gill were thus denied an excuse to unveil swimsuits or make any overtures related to potentially poisonous suncream application, were they so inclined. The fact that it was now getting dark would also be an obstacle in that regard. Lucrecia could have eased the pressure by shedding her own shirt, but decided it was more fun to watch without interfering, like a true scientist. It had been a while since she’d spent so much time lounging around on the beach, and it was more relaxing than she remembered. Even with the sun down, the sand was still warm enough to lie on.

“So what’s up with this vow of celibacy?” Lucrecia asked eventually, because Tanya and Gill wanted to but couldn’t.

J glanced at her. “I promised Mom I would be careful about… entanglements… in Junon.”

Pause. Then Kell spoke up. “That’s how you’re going to describe it? Seriously?”

Lucrecia glanced at him, because for once his tone was entirely serious.

J closed his eyes. “I really don’t want to elaborate right now.”

“…Fair.” said Kell, after a moment.

Lucrecia almost laughed, but checked herself, because the miners were not. “You’re talking to the Science Dept and the military. I don’t think we have any delicate flowers listening.”

Long silence.

“Okay,”Elza said, sighing, “I think we may need to start again. Nobody said anything ominously threatening, nobody told any harrowing mood killing stories, and J didn’t forget to clarify that it’s not actually a vow of celibacy, that’s just Kell trying and failing to be funny. He’s good at that.”

Kell saluted her. “That’s why I’m here.”

“Also, who are you and why are you still here?” Elza said, looking at Lucrecia.

“I’m just a spectator,” Lucrecia said, as Gillian drew a breath to explain her credentials at length, “of… social dynamics, shall we say.”

“Heh. I hear that. Anyways, I don’t plan on spending my one week off hanging around you all. Have fun with your weird but admittedly hot harem, guys.” She began to wander off, and cut off J as he opened his mouth. “Yes, I’ll check in on the hour.”

He nodded, and she left to move further down the beach towards the more active party atmosphere near the inevitable bonfire. Gillian laughed and glanced over at Tanya “How do you like that label?”

“ ‘Weird but admittedly hot’. I’ll take it. Could do without ‘harem’ and ‘groupie’ though. We ain’t the fucking Hojo cult.”

“Do you know what’s up with that?” Lucrecia asked. She glanced over the beach to Hojo’s entourage, where Demmie was apparently making a speech.

Tanya shrugged. “Didn’t pay much attention. Very strange, though.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Want me to investigate?”

“If you like, but no pressure.” She didn’t feel like Hojo would easily be caught, even by someone with Tanya’s skills. If it was that easy, the campus would have had him in shackles long ago.

Tanya shrugged. “Fair enough. You joining our, uh, club?”

“Like I said, I just point and laugh.”

“Hurray for the third wheel club!” Kell said, attempting to high five her. After a brief moment’s consideration, Lucrecia went along with it.

“So, do you wish to inaugurate your group by, perhaps, going somewhere else?” Gillian asked, with a small smile. With teeth.

Lucrecia considered this. “Not tonight.” There was no chance J would go along with that without fleeing into the night. Gill seemed inexplicably invested in her chances, and she wasn’t going to screw that up for her if possible.

“Seconded. Motion carried.” said Kell, “You’re stuck with us.” He flicked a glance at Lu, in which the entire club charter was conveyed.

“Okay, what the fuck is going on?” said J, apparently deaf to intricacies of the interactions of his suitors and the ‘officially obstructive but secretly shipping’ alliance of their friends.

Kell cackled but made no reply. Tanya sat up, turned to face J. “Can I start again?”

_Third time lucky?_ Lucrecia did not say. Tanya took J’s confused silence for permission. She also took his hand.

“There are a lot of things I could say to persuade you to hang around, like that Junon’s different now from forty years ago, whatever it is your mom heard. If you really want to be safe, I respect that, but if that was your goal, you should never have brought us back to your Inn. The one thing you did right was not let us walk you home alone. I can get you a manual if you’d like, but of course you’d have no reason to trust it. I can’t prove my good intentions here. All I can say here is that if I wanted to hurt you I could have by now.”

J met her eyes, matching her serious tone. “I believe I understand your position, but under the circumstances, I think it’s fair for me to take a certain amount of care. I won’t banish you, but I will accept that manual.” He hesitated, scrubbing at his forehead. “To be honest, you’re both very impressive to me, to the point where this seems too good to be true, and I promised to be careful in such situations. I think getting to know you both enough to make a fair judgement is likely to take longer than the week I’m in town, so you know.”

Tanya accepted that, and if she was irked that Gill had been included, she didn’t show it. Gillian took J’s other hand, and then they all promised not to willingly harm each other except in self defence. Lucrecia stayed silent during all of this, half trying not to laugh, half deeply touched. She didn’t know Tanya well yet, but if she was like Gill she also would take a promise like that seriously. Still a strange approach, though. Lucrecia would almost call this like a romance novel, but had read several where no one would dream of promising not to murder each other as the basis of a relationship.

She flicked a glance at Kell, who shrugged. More banter ensued for a while, but then the miners called it a night. The rest of the military had mostly drifted away by now, leaving Lu, Gill, and Tanya to walk home as usual.

“Well,” Tanya said, once they were at a safe distance, “that could have gone better.” She was keeping her tone light, but her right hand was fisted tight at her side.

“He’s like a storybook knight. It’s so strange,” Gill said, stretching out her arms.

“Our very own legendary hero Alfred. Think any of that was true?”

“We’ll know by the end of the week.” Lucrecia said, hiding her smile.

They both turned to her. “How come?” Amusingly, they’d both spoken almost together.

“It all hinges on whether he lets you talk him out of that promise or not.” Crazy stories from men in bars was not altogether unusual, but they usually didn’t maintain them long once someone displayed obvious interest. So far, J was proving an exception.

“I can’t believe his mom was so mean! Who sends their kid to Junon Port expecting celibacy? I feel like, I dunno, writing a letter or protest or something.”

Lucrecia glanced across at Gill, this time failing to maintain her straight face.

“ ‘Dear Dude I Met in a Bar’s Mom,

 'It has come to my attention that you have raised your son to be insufficiently rebellious against authority, to the detriment of my attempts to have sex with him. Please rectify this immediately, or I will be forced to inform the appropriate authorities.

Regards, Some Chick from Junon’"

Gillian tried to answer, but was too busy giggling, so Lucrecia kept talking.

"Although, regarding vows, she said ‘be careful’ if we take him literally. Nothing about celibacy in that. Seems our friend takes his promises very seriously.”

“Assuming he doesn’t,” Tanya said, turning to Lucrecia, “Which of us do you think has better chances?”

Dictates of friendship required her to back Gillian, but Lu had long ago made her a promise of her own, to tell the unvarnished truth where possible. Gill and Tanya were both very pretty (too much so for the miners, in Lucrecia’s assessment), but in very different ways. Gillian was broad shouldered and curvy, where Tanya was slim, tall, and wiry. The miners undoubtedly filled out their shirts very well and were obviously strong and powerful, but physically strong men were not in short supply in Junon. She didn’t see the draw of the man, not when he was so… well, not uninterested, exactly, but certainly resistant to advances nonetheless.

“I don’t know,” Lucrecia said eventually, “it depends which way his taste runs. I do know one thing, though.”

“Do tell,” Gillian said, smiling.

“If it comes down to slaying dragons, I’m backing you two all the way.”

That didn’t break the deadlock, but it did net her hugs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OC Guide:
> 
> Tanya: Junon Military Academy Cadet  
> Kell: Mythril Miner. Big  
> J: Miner, not so big, but strong.  
> Wendy: Junon University Security Guard


	4. Alliances

 

They returned to the beach the following day, slightly earlier in the day, to mostly the same tableaux. The various students, bonfires, and Hojo cultists still existed. This time the sun was still out, requiring the miners to appear in fetching hats and coats. Even Lucrecia had to admit, the style suited them, even if it made them look like bodyguards or criminals.

They stretched out at what had now become their usual spot, but unexpectedly, Hojo and his entourage were somewhere different today, higher up the beach, and almost out of sight. If she wanted to keep them under observation, then she’d have to either turn her head a lot, which would make her surveillance more obvious, or move position. It was, of course, immediately interesting that they apparently wanted privacy today.

“I propose a third wheel club outing,” Lucrecia said, once they were settled and sufficient banter had ensued. They all raised eyebrows at her, nearly identically. She waved a hand at the rock shelf at the end of the beach, which the peninsula left a wide area filled with rock rather than sand. Once upon a time, she’d liked to climb across the rocks to kill time and exercise, and it felt like now was the time to rediscover this hobby.

Before leaving, she wagged a hand over theatrically at the others. “We can give you some privacy for conversation, without going out of sight. So no shenanigans! We have a reputation to maintain.”

Tanya saluted her (fist to heart) and Gill waved in acknowledgement. J seemed decidedly less panicky today.

Kell appeared slightly amused as he rose, but started a bit as she leaned on his arm. “Huh?”

“I’ll tell you when we get there.”

He nodded, but narrowed his eyes a bit. Lu spread her hands. “We’re not going out of sight, okay? I’m not a serial killer, honest!”

Kell allowed himself to be tugged along, trying not to let his scepticism show too obviously. At the foot of the rocks, he turned. “What’s going on?”

“Any time you need an excuse to do anything,” Lucrecia said, removing her straw hat and shaking out her hair, “people will believe a hidden relationship. ‘Look , boss, I snuck into the missile base to impress my boyfriend, that’s why the launch codes are in my bag’

Those three now believe I have an ulterior motive for bringing you over here,” she said, giving him her most radiant smile (noting that it staggered him a bit even through the scepticism), “ and they’re right, but they think it’s a different one.” She stood up on the first rock, and extended a hand backwards. “Coming?”

“I’ve been a fake date before,” Kell said, taking the hand, “ usually from people trying to scare off their exes. You should know now, I don’t beat people up for hire.”

.“ Aw, drat. Foiled.”

They mounted the next rock together, this one three foot high and wide enough  for them both to stand on. They navigated several more, before she caught him in another sidelong glance. “Yes?”

“You also should know, I make no guarantees of being able to catch you if you slip.”

Lucrecia smirked. “Fair. I should be able to catch you, if it helps.”

He smiled down at her. “Y’think?”

“Try me.” She took a glance back at the beach. They were high enough now to have a clear view of it. Gill, Tan, and J were of course deep in conversation. Hojo and his cultists were visible from here but seemed not to be doing anything unusual other than moving position. Beside her, Kell started laughing hard.

“ ‘Hey, let’s practice our trust falls on these slippery rocks.’ Sure, that sounds safe.”

“I’m serious,” Lucrecia said, a bit more annoyed than she let show on her face. Admittedly, he had nearly two feet of height on her, and presumably several stones weight, but still. Everyone tended to assume she was some lightweight lab fairy.

“Uh, okay, if you insist, but I take no responsibility for injuries to either one of us.”

Lu turned on her smile again. “You need, perhaps, some form of…incentive?”

Her smile was parried with one of his own, not quite so striking, but not without some charm. “Possibly.”

“And what would you have in mind?”, she whispered, trailing her fingertips down his arm.

He smiled.“An honest answer to a straight question.”

She blinked, but succeeded in holding a neutral face, until he ran a hand lovingly down a nearby giant rock for emphasis, prompting her to start laughing.

“Okay, okay, I’ll answer. So…” She held her arms out expectantly, and Kell managed a neat forearm to forehead swoon down on top of her. She had time to brace her feet and managed to hold him up, a little surprised he really was letting her bear his weight, which was indeed substantial.

“Huh. You can actually do it. I’m impressed. Even better, I’m not dead.”

“Lab equipment… is heavier…than it looks.”

“Clearly.” He regained his balance, and smiled at her.

“So, my question.”

“Ask.”

“Why are we stalking labcoat guy?”

She blinked at him again. “What?”

“I think you heard.” He jerked his head towards the beach.

“Hmm. Good question.” She’d still been expecting something about virginity or kinks, but this man still had a few surprises, and she’d promised to be honest. “Short answer? I can’t figure out what hold he has over his followers, I want to make sure it’s not something…dangerous. That man is notoriously abrasive, it sure ain’t his winning personality.”

One more surprise: Kell appeared to believe her instead of assuming it was an unrequited crush. He glanced towards the beach speculatively. “Huh. Lucrecia Crescent: Champion of Justice. It’s a worthwhile goal, but… if you do find something, I wouldn’t confront him alone. You know he has a holster under that coat, right?”

“I’m not stupid,” Lucrecia reminded him, taking his arm again as they began to descend the rocks, “So, do I get a question?”

“About J’s vows again?” He shook his head “Why is no one interested in my sex life?”

“Because it’s not interesting. Well?”

His teeth glinted. “Sorry. J may talk about honour a lot, but he has no monopoly on it, and it’s not my story to tell.”

_So there is a story._ “Okay, fine.”

“Seriously, though, about labcoat guy, we passed by him on the way in, there’s something weird in his eyes. Dangerous, I mean.”

“Also not news.” She scanned the beach once more. Nothing had changed. Hojo’s entourage were making their normal speeches and readings. J was deep in conversation with his love triangle, and the rest of the beach were doing normal student things like sunbathing and regretting spending so much time on the beach instead of studying. But something still felt wrong today.

 “What’s off about this picture?”

J drew breath to reply, and there was a roar from the sea. They turned.

A monster had burst up from the sea and was floating up the beach, fins and jaws ready to strike. The two lifeguards on duty jerked upright in their seats, and the one on the left levelled his gun at the monster. Lucrecia saw the shot impact near the foremost fin. The monster roared in response, and the lifeguard found himself encased in a transparent bubble. He fired out through it, narrowly missing the nearby beachgoers, but it didn’t break. Then he began to drown. Several people screamed.

They were out of the monster’s line of vision, but that could change, and they started moving. Scrambling down the rocks at speed, Lucrecia saw J take half a step between Gill and the monster, realise she was armed and he wasn’t, and then step back. Tanya had already taken three steps and disarmed a student recklessly pointing a gun at her in panic, and was now calmly levelling it at the monster.

Down the beach, near the bonfire, Awful Purple Shirt, of all people, had held his ground and was firing. The rest of the beach was quickly clearing, but the monster was already driving towards the nearest target, which happened to be a very unfortunate girl in a swimsuit who had taken a hard fall over a beach chair in her efforts to run, and recovered her wits just in time to thrust out one hand in shock. The monster’s jaws closed on her arm just above the elbow, and when it withdrew the arm was gone. Hot blood spurted, but the monster had lost interest in the beach due to its warm welcome, and with a flick of its tail fled back to the safety of deep water. It was difficult to say for certain, but either Tanya or Purple Shirt seemed to land a hit on its left eye.

By a quirk of fate, Lucrecia and Kell were closer to the fallen girl than anyone else. Gill was running full tilt towards them, but even with Lucrecia’s limited knowledge of medicine she knew this kind of wound could very quickly lead to death from blood loss. They skidded and skittered down the rocks, catching each other and ignoring the small scrapes on their arms and legs from hard landings, before running to the fallen unfortunate.

“Hold her down!” she called to Kell, who was a step behind, and immediately pressed both her hands to the still spurting stump.

“I was feeling really good today…” Swimsuit girl said, a bit muzzily. She’d stopped screaming. For a wound like this, that was an extremely bad sign. Kell spared the time to tear his shirt in half and hand it to her to wad against the wound.

The wounded girl was still talking, eyes wide and unfocused “I mean, I don’t normally go to the beach, but the sun was out, I’d got paid early, so I said ‘Fuck it, what’s the worst that can happen?’”

Lucrecia had little concentration to spare for the rest of the beach, but she caught Tanya doing something to burst the bubble, (lightning sparking from her hand?) rescuing the drowning lifeguard. The other lifeguard began CPR on her colleague and Tanya turned towards Lucrecia’s improvised medical work.

 “I can’t believe I’m going to die here, for such a stupid reason…” Swimsuit girl closed her eyes. “ Can someone… hold my hand?”

Lucrecia would never have dreamed of saying aloud the joke that came to mind, but Swimsuit girl sensed it somehow and snarled at her before lolling back on the sand, just as Gillian approached, tightening Lucrecia’s improvised hair ribbon tourniquet and adding a few other small improvements and professional touches to their care, before slapping the fallen girl across the face.

“Wh? What?”

“I’m very sorry, it’s a bad idea to pass out right now. You remember your name?”

“S… Sue. Who’re you?”

Gillian told her and began reeling off an extensive list of questions, mostly just to keep the victim awake as far as Lucrecia could tell.

“The ambulance is coming,” Tanya said, arriving behind them. En route she’d somehow secured an icebox and placed Sue’s severed arm in it along with someone’s beer cans.

Sue’s struggles had weakened to the point that the miners were no longer needed to hold her still, and they milled aimlessly in the background until Gill told them to help carry her to the road.

“Normally, we shouldn’t move her, but we don’t have much time here. Anyone know if that thing is venomous?”

No one said anything, and they crept towards the beach, Tanya circling the perimeter with gun in hand, Gillian monitoring Sue’s condition.

The rest of the beach was empty by now, save for Hojo, above the high tideline, still in his beachchair reading (his fanclub had scattered, which was an enormous relief to Lucrecia.  They were not so devoted as to be willing to die for him), and Purple Shirt. Hojo didn’t look up as they passed but Purple Shirt moved towards them immediately.

“What do you need?”

“Get the fuck out of the way!” Gillian screamed at him, and he stepped aside sharply.

By the time they reached the road the ambulance was just arriving and Sue was unconscious. The other lifeguard had been revived by his colleague, and was limping along beside them. Purple Shirt intercepted them.

“What…just happened?”

The unscathed lifeguard, supporting the formerly drowning one, looked up. “ I’m busy right now, sir.”

Purple Shirt narrowed his eyes.“So I see. Your responsibility is the safety of those using the beach. You failed to discharge your responsibilities effectively.  Rest assured, your bosses will be hearing of this.”

The lifeguards didn’t reply. There was no ambulance for them, so they set about walking to the emergency room themselves. Sue was transferred into the care of paramedics, and the rest of them just stood around awkwardly for a time.

Purple Shirt broke the silence first. “That was good work, from all of you. Anyone know what that thing was?”

They all expressed puzzlement. Purple Shirt straightened his clothes. “Well. I appreciate competence when I see it. Y’all need anything, you let me know.” He reached into his breast pocket and withdrew a business card, handing it over to Gillian.

She glanced at it. “There’s no name on this.”

Purple Shirt smiled. “ ‘Jack’ will do. Pleasure meeting you all.” He strolled off, leaving them staring at each other blankly.

“Well, um, I think we better go home.” Kell said, eventually. He was so unsettled he’d said nothing snarky about the beach losing its appeal.

Lucrecia looked at Gill, raised her eyebrows. “Hospital?”

“I think so. They won’t be done for hours, though, we’ve a wait ahead of us.” Gill addressed the miners, calm now. “Sorry guys, we’ll try catch up with you before you leave.” There were only two more days before the cargo ship arrived, they might well not meet again, but no one spoke.

Tanya looked at them. “I’ll go with you, if that’s okay.” She hadn’t let go of her looted gun, and kept it holstered but ready  as the three of them walked over.

Three hundred yards down the road, they remembered that Sue would probably want her things back, and returned to the beach to find them. They found her bag in the changing room after a time, and failed to resist the urge to rummage. Sue Heilasse was a local Junon girl, a rarity in either of the colleges, and a final year Pharmacy student, but there was nothing much else in her bag beyond towels and shoes and such.

Slightly disappointed, they reached the hospital. Sue was in surgery and obviously wouldn’t be able to take visitors immediately thereafter, but they managed to linger long enough to drop off her bag and ascertain that she would live, although the arm was probably beyond repair.

At that point, the nurses realised none of them were actually next of kin and threw them out. Lucrecia had the presence of mind to leave behind some cash in Sue’s bag before then –Junon A&E’s medical expenses were known to be vicious.

“I _knew_ something was wrong today,” Lucrecia said, once they were outside. “I can’t tell you how I knew, but something was up, and I knew it, somehow.”

“That seems pretty unlikely, Lu-” Gillian began, and then stopped.

Lucrecia looked at her. “What?”

“There were no fishermen on the beach today.”

She didn’t bother to question it. Gill’s memory was borderline infallible. “Huh. Very interesting.”

Gillian looked at Tanya. “Hey, you want to be part of our private detective agency?”

Tanya shrugged. “Sure. We have a team name?”

“How about the Crescent Unit?”

Tanya burst out laughing, hard, eventually recovering enough to point out that the name was taken. From that reaction, maybe they were porn stars or something.

In other circumstances, they might have spent some time on a team name, but they’d all seen Sue’s arm get bitten off, and this wasn’t the time. Lucrecia had to settle this quickly, and suggested, Cerberus, the three headed mythical guard dog.

They agreed to meet and begin investigating the next day. If Sue had been the victim of more than a random accident, whoever was behind it would answer to them.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OC Guide:
> 
> Purple Shirt: Strange man with awful dress sense that spends a lot of time at the beach  
> Tanya: Member of Junon's military academy, girl with dragon tattoo.  
> J: Oddly attractive miner admired by Gillian and Tanya.  
> Kell: Taller miner, apparently less attractive, to his own amusement.


	5. Interrogations

Team Cerberus (Lu, Gill, and Tanya) returned to the hospital the next day, to find Sue awake, alert, and extremely angry. She was of course swathed in bandages, her foreshortened arm bound to her side, eyes hazy with pain and drugs.

‘How are you doing’ felt extremely inadequate, but it had to be said, so Lucrecia said it.

Sue raised her eyebrows at them.

“Well, I can take a lot of painkillers, and be very sick, or I can not take them and be in a lot of pain.”

Nobody really knew how to respond to that. Sue tried to get up, failed, and jerked her head at a parcel on her dinner trolley, looking at Lucrecia “ Thought you might be here.That’s for you.”

From the size, Lucrecia could guess what was in it –her money, left behind the previous day, returned.

“You don’t have to-”

“I don’t want it. You helped me get here, and that’s fine, but I’m not owing you for-”

“You don’t owe me-“

“Everyone always says that. Until they need something. Then it’s ‘hey, do this one thing for me and we’re square.’”

“I’ll never-” _need anything from you._ “Uhm, sorry..”

“Take the thing or I’ll shove it down your throat.”

As she would hurt herself in the attempt, Lucrecia took the package, laying a hand on the bristling Gillian’s arm to prevent an argument. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed, I just thought you might need-”

“I get it,” Sue said, a light behind her eyes, and something clicked in Lucrecia’s brain. There was something more than pride at stake here. She put away the purse. Something else to investigate, perhaps?

When she looked up, Sue had closed her eyes. “Not that I don’t appreciate all you’ve done, but I’ve got to get back home as soon as I can, and for that I need to rest. If you don’t mind?”

They left her there, either drifting off to sleep or pretending to.

* * *

 

 Lucrecia might have considered Sue ungrateful, but there was only so much good cheer you could expect from someone when their arm had been bitten off the day before. Gillian’s medical opinion was that she would recover, and the unfriendliness, however unpleasant, was a good sign of her strength. Lucrecia resolved to keep an eye on her if possible, but there was a lot of other things on her mind right now. Such as why the attack had happened in the first place.

Even though the miners were leaving tomorrow, Gillian and Tanya still had the strength of will to prioritise investigating the beach mishap over their probably doomed crush. There were three obvious directions for Team Cerberus to take the investigation. The monster itself was the most obvious one, monster attacks were not uncommon, but very rarely did they attack a fortified town, and those occasions were remembered. Someone would know about this thing.

The other two leads were the suspicious absence of fisherfolk the day of the attack, and the suspicious presence of Hojo. However cold blooded the man was, a monster attack on the beach surely warranted a more extreme reaction than just sitting still and continuing to read. It didn’t take Lucrecia’s mind to find that a touch suspicious.

With three investigators, it seemed most efficient to tackle one strand each. Tanya was already familiar with most of the world’s monster population as part of her education, so she handled that part of their research. Gillian elected to take part in the investigation that meant she got to sit around in  Rafael’s drinking fabulous craft beer, which left Hojo to Lucrecia.

How to approach was difficult. Hojo would never answer a direct question, and any attempt would let him know something was up. In spite of her pretensions, Lucrecia was not actually a private detective, so perhaps it was better to start small.

At Mabel’s, she called down Demestina to talk, and met her privately in the Joker Room (the pattern was supposed to be lucky for gambling. It was not.)

 “Is the gang okay?” Lucrecia opened, as casually as possible. Which, she realised a heartbeat later, could be a giveaway in itself, as there was only so casual you could be about potentially being eaten by fish monsters.

Demestina shrugged. “Scrapes, bruises. We’ll live. What about your crew, they stayed behind?”

“Fine. One girl in hospital, though.”

“Yeah, Sue’s in one of my chemistry labs, I saw what happened when we were running. She okay?”

“Uhh, well, she’s alive.” Lucrecia gave the address of the A&E. “Maybe they’ll let you in.”

“I’ll try tomorrow.”

“So what are you guys going to do? About the beach, I mean.”

“Well, I have to admit, it’s losing its charm a bit. No particular plans yet, we’re still adjusting.”

“And Hojo?”

Demestina smirked, very slightly. “No reaction at all, he just kept fucking reading.”

“Why did you move up the beach that day?”

A shadow lit behind her eyes.  “Saw that, huh? He never explained, he just set down somewhere new. Thought it was to be out of your crew’s line of vision.”

“Hojo suddenly shy? Somehow I doubt it.”

 Demmie went still. “You… think he knew something?”

“I don’t know.” Lucrecia said, by rote.

“Because if he did… I mean, one of us could have been killed… you’re not just fucking with us, right? Trying to scare us away?”

“I’m looking for data, not close to drawing conclusions yet.”

She stayed silent, letting Demmie draw her own. It did not seem completely out of character for Hojo, but could he really be _that_ cold?

After a moment, Demmie closed her eyes. “Okay. I’ll let you know, if I see anything.”

“Don’t do anything crazy, okay? Just in case.”

“Oh, I know. I’m no hero, I just don’t want my friends to get hurt.”

* * *

“Morning, Harry,” Tanya said, waving off the salute as she jumped off the ladder.

“Pleasure as always, Lieutenant.” said the man at the desk in front of her. Technically, she didn’t get her commission until graduation, but barring disaster, that was going to happen, and the firing range manager knew it. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m returning lost property, “ Tanya said, slapping her looted gun on the desk, the one stolen from a beachgoer the day before.

Harry glanced at it. “Huh. Silver inlay. Someone will have been unhappy to lose this. I’ll hear about it, don’t worry. Can I say where it came from? Could be trouble.”

“Pointing guns at strangers has consequences. You heard about our fish incident?”

“Vaguely,” he lied, “everyone get out okay?”

“Near enough. I took some shots at the monster, along with some other people. Curious if you know em. Could be worth putting together a crew, if there are more attacks.”

“Bodyguarding’s a bit beneath you, isn’t it? Got a crush?”

“Hah! On the guns, maybe. Got one guy that hangs around on the beach in a labcoat, carries a .38 revolver.”

“Common as dirt, but I know who you mean. Strange man. Spends a lot of time at the range for a scientist, passable shot, not exceptional. Never come to the attention of the authorities, far as I know? Problem?”

“Just interested,” Tanya lied. “There’s another guy in a purple shirt. Carries a flashy hand cannon, the stupid big ones, trying to look like a hobbyist. The handle’s worn, though, he’s done combat shooting, it’s not just for show.”

Harry shrugged. “That describes a lot of people.”

“Sure, but if he was in the military school I’d have heard of him.  Know anything?”

“Nothing coming to mind.” It wasn’t altogether a surprise. Junon by laws required everyone carrying a firearm within city limits to register it at the range, but it wasn’t a particularly well observed law. “I’ll make enquiries, though.”

“Much obliged. Anything you can telI me about the monster?”

He winced. “I could tell you a lot about the local monsters, but marine life? Not my forte. I can talk to some sailors, but frankly, if there had been any notable attacks on shipping, I’d have heard long before now. Ever heard the phrase ‘gossip like a sailor?’

“No, but I’ll take your word for it. Thanks anyway. Anything I can help with while I’m here?”

Harry smiled. “Got a class of new cadets this afternoon. Think they might benefit from a …demonstration.”

Tanya saluted. “That’s my kind of deal.”

* * *

Gillian lounged in a corner of the bar, less drunk than she appeared to or indeed wanted to be, but duty called. Her piercings and stripy hair didn’t make her inconspicuous in this kind of bar, so there was no point in trying. It did seem like a nice place, though –every time one of the younger fishermen crossed the room to make some godawful pickup line, one of the bouncers decided to loom ominously nearby, making them think better of the attempt. Maybe she should have brought a miner. It was the kind of place they’d like. The barmaid with the broken teeth flashed her smiles in passing, but was too busy to stop and chat.

The crowd was substantial but not packed, a lot of the clientele presumably at sea. It was quiet, though. She’d been to working man’s bars before, and they tended to be either rowdy as people cut loose after their hard day’s work, or the quiet of crews preoccupied with intense drinking.  This was neither…and she heard no one talking about the fish monster attack. It hadn’t made the news, thanks to the college keeping things quiet, but these were locals. They’d know.

After an hour, a grizzled old man with a pipe and a fantastically warm looking sealskin coat got up from a chair near the door and sat down across from her. The bouncers were suddenly very still as he fixed her with a hard stare and said “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Your drinks are fantastic!” Gillian said, saluting him with her glass.

He growled. “Not enough to come here alone, you’d have brought friends. Spill it or get the fuck out.”

She looked at him. He didn’t seem to be an employee, but he meant it. “You’ve heard about that monster attack?”

He inclined his head. “The colleges sent you?”

“No. A private interest. The last thing the college wants to do is draw attention to this.” She resisted the urge to talk about Cerberus Investigations, since they were not officially incorporated. Yet.

He narrowed his eyes, and she re-evaluated the stranger. Very sharp focused eyes, whoever he was, “You might want to follow their example, then. Dangerous people to cross.”

“I can handle it. Why do you say that?”

“They’ve wanted us off that damned beach for years.” He breathed a stream of smoke, not quite at her. “No mingling with the unwashed masses, y’know? Tarnishes their reputation.”

“So… you’re saying the college…”

“I’m not saying anything, kiddo. They’ll find a way to blame us somehow.”

“You’ve had… trouble.”

He twitched aside the tails of his coat, revealing a functional, if crude, wooden leg extending from just below the knee. “Accidents happen. That girl that got hurt, she okay?”

“Alive, for now. Down a hand, most likely.”

He hissed through his teeth. “ Shame. Still, least she’s alive.” Another long breath. “If you meet, give her my regards.”

“Y’know, I can fix you up with a better prosthetic. Ask for-”

“You been listening, girl? What d’you think happens if I go up there? Least I know what this one is made of.”

“Understood,” Gillian said, after a moment. “Thanks for your help.”

She stayed another hour to finish her drink, and a few more, then left to report in.

* * *

“Y’know, the whole ‘asking questions’ part of investigation is underrated. I was trying to be all stealthy and shit, and then he walks right up to me and answers direct questions. I’M THE INTERROGATION MASTER!”

They were reconvened back at the house, and while it had admittedly been fruitful, the ‘send Gillian drinking’ strategy had its downsides.

“Screw finesse! Just keep talking to random people until you get pertinent information! That’s how you investigate, people!”

Across from them, Tanya was politely not laughing. The problem with hunting for marine life in Junon was that it was one of the most famous fishing locations in the world, so her monster handbooks hadn’t been that helpful. Adamantoises were sometimes known, but rare, and didn’t fit the description of the fish thing in the slightest.

“So,” Lucrecia said, attempting to take control of the situation, “we know Hojo is fucking weird, and may know more than he’s telling. We know that the local fisherfolk  and the college don’t like each other, maybe the trustees are trying to scare students off the beach?”

“I can’t see them doing that,” Tanya pointed out, “ they care about their reputation, and ‘ your daughter may be maimed by sea monsters’ is bad PR.”

“True. The fisherfolk, then?”

“I don’t think they have the capabilities to set giant monsters on their enemies, and if they did, the college would come down on them like Doorbulls in summer.” Gillian shot her a confused glance, and Tanya sighed. “I am referring to the dominance battles, not the mating.”

“So: We’re still missing something. So what’s our next-”

There was a knock from downstairs. Lucrecia glanced out the window, half expecting some kind of angry fisherfolk mob. “Your miners are here to say goodbye.”

There was a brief silence as they both considered their options, and Lu went to answer the door before they could hesitate too long.

It was, of course, Kell and J, scrubbed and shirted once more. Kell had borrowed a new shirt from somebody, which was a bit too small, but worn well. Presumably  the torn bloodstained one gave the wrong impression. She opened the door and curtsied overdramatically.

“Good morrow, sirs. What brings you to our humble door?”

“Well met, fair maid,” said Kell instantly, apparently having seen that play too, “Come the morn, we depart for faraway shores, and seek the blessing of your fair companions.”

Lucrecia narrowed her eyes, pretending to consider whether to throw them out. “Should I ask how you knew where we lived?”

“We asked at Selene’s, “ J said, without hesitating. “Apparently, ‘Science Queens’ don’t have a low profile.”

“Woo! Score two for asking random questions!” Gillian called down from upstairs.

The miners flicked questioning glances at Lucrecia, who shrugged, then stepped back from the door

The two miners followed, trying not to stare. Lucrecia and Gillian’s home away from home was a lot more palatial than the miners’ inn. They had a lounge, a games room, a tiny laboratory for emergency science in the middle of the night and a small library. Gillian and Tanya were in the lounge on the second floor, in which there was another stairs up to the four bedrooms on the third.

The other two girls were waiting for them, and Lucrecia remained curious as to how this would pan out. Gillian was on home ground, but Tanya wasn’t drunk. The miners might be wondering why this was so, but no one chose to enlighten them. The notes on the investigation were gone when she returned, so at least one of them still had some presence of mind.

“So, um, how’s that girl that got bit?” Kell asked, once they were settled in armchairs (the three girls took the couch). Lucrecia once again provided an update  on Sue’s status and where she could be found. The miners were leaving early tomorrow, but might catch visiting hours if they moved fast. They speculated pointlessly for a while on what had happened and its potential causes, but came to no further conclusions. Lucrecia handed out drinks, which the miners turned down, citing their early start to catch the boat the next day. Gillian then challenged them to a drinking duel, which they also refused, and Lucrecia felt the need to remind Gill that she was a biologist and so should be aware that trying to drink someone three times your weight under the table didn’t work very well, especially when you’d already started. That left them having to decide how else to spend the evening.

Within the Science faculty, science trivia question duels were often used to settle disputes and pass slow evenings, but that was obviously highly in favour of the queens. Martial feats obviously favoured Tanya, while feats of strength favoured the miners, so after a long, wandering conversation, they settled on cards. (No one suggested a non competitive activity)

Stakes were the next question, to make things interesting. Monetary stakes were frowned upon in the college, as wealth of the students varied greatly, but drinks, a common substitute, was turned down due to Gill’s head start. Lucrecia not very seriously suggested shedding items of clothing as stake, mostly just to see their reactions, and was slightly taken aback by Gillian’s vehement refusal. Eventually, they settled on truths. Whoever won the round could ask a question of one of the losers, provided all five of them agreed it was a fair question –no digging around in someone’s past for kicks.

Drunk or not, Gillian won the first round, and asked Lucrecia  “Why are you so interested in Hojo?”

Lu was a bit surprised to be singled out first, but could answer truthfully easily enough. “I think he’s dangerous, and needs to be stopped.”

Everyone nodded, regardless of creed or background they all agreed on that much.

Tanya was dealing the next round, and Lucrecia ended up with three of a kind, giving her her first question. She had nothing she particularly wanted to know, so spun in a circle with her eyes closed in the middle of the room, ending up pointed at J. Shrugging, she just asked. “What’s your actual name?”

J laughed. “I’m pretty sure I would have just answered that. Jaisophistophanes. Dad was a fan of the opera, but people get sick of saying it pretty quickly, so ‘J’ became a thing.”

Gillian flicked her a glance. “Dammit, Lu, I was having fun with the mystery!”

Lu spread her hands. “Then don’t lose.” She retook her seat.

J looked across at Gill “Did I crush your dreams?”

“Not yet!”

Gill dealt , this time, and Tanya won the hand. Lucrecia had the strange impression that she could have won more often but had chosen not to. But then, she could probably say that about everyone in the room.

Tanya looked at Kell. “Did you two know I was here when you knocked?”

Kell hesitated a heartbeat. “No. We were going to ask about you when we got here, nobody at the bar could tell us where to find you.”

“ ...Ah.” She handed across the deck to Lucrecia for her deal. Gill won the next hand directly enough, to her own apparent surprise.

“And people say you shouldn’t gamble drunk.” She looked across at Kell. “Why are you here?”

_Yowch. Back off, Gill._

Kell returned her stare calmly. “I’m here to protect my friend. No more, no less.”

J glanced at him. “Y’know, I’m starting to think we’re being played here...”

Kell shrugged. “Then up your game.” He took the cards for his deal.

J won next the next hand, making Lu wonder if he was right and contemplate actually playing seriously, to try to discover the mastermind. He looked at Tanya. “Why are you so interested in us?”

Tanya didn’t flinch. “I was hitting on you. Fuck, dude, it wasn’t exactly subtle.”

“Yeah, but why?”

“Abuse of power!” Gillian said immediately. Kell and Lu concurred, but Tanya sighed and answered anyway. “I’m in the military school, I’m graduating this year. Romantic possibilities are thin on the ground, because within the school, I could end up in command of my peers, so conflict of interest. The Science Uni is a possibility, but with no disrespect to you, girls, its male population are mostly dicks.”

Lucrecia almost interrupted, because that was not actually true, she had known some fine specimens in the past, but given its most public representatives were the likes of Hojo and Hollander she could forgive the impression. Tanya was still talking. “And the locals don’t trust us. So, you didn’t take shit from the Science people, and your sense of honour appealed, and I wanted the chance to have some fun before graduation. Fair enough?”

J nodded soberly, and said “I’m sorry. Poor question.”

Tanya shrugged and said “Fortunes of war.”

Lucrecia won the next hand, on J’s deal, despite not playing seriously. If J was going to ask a question like that, turnabout was fair, so she asked him. “Why are you so afraid of us?”

Silence. She looked around at the room. Some of the faces were unhappy, but nobody interrupted. J looked at Kell, who looked back and said “Up to you.”

Another brief silence. Lu was about to retract the question when he finally spoke up.

 “It’s a long story. Short version: My great uncle once met a nice lady in this town on the way from the mines. He woke up the next day chained in the hold of a Gi slaver.”

Winces all round. J evidently wasn’t much of a storyteller, but they all knew enough to fill in the blanks.

“My aunt went to war to get him back, and eventually we did, but he was never quite the same after it. I mean, I never knew him well, but the way everyone talked about it…He was gone nearly two years, and, it, well, left its mark, and I don’t mean the shackle scars.”

He paused, drew a breath.

“So, when Mom heard I was heading out this direction, she made me promise to be careful about who I met in bars.”

“I… see.” Lucrecia said, after a moment, but then Tanya raised her head,

“I know I said this already, but you're doing all the wrong things. No one needs to have sex to kidnap you. I know where your hotel room is, I know where that safe is, I could put together a crew and be in and out in forty seconds.”

“To whom it concerns,” Kell said, slowly sitting up to his full height “the last people trying that learned the error of their ways. It proved a rather sharp lesson.”

“I’m not threatening you! There was a short pause. Tanya closed her eyes briefly.  “Yes, I’m aware of how that sounds… but if safety is a concern, it’s the truth. You’ve the wrong kind of paranoia.” Without opening her eyes, she moved her hands back to her lap, moving slowly and carefully.  “That’s our evening fucked, isn’t it? Sorry everyone.”

“My fault,” Lucrecia said, reaching across to squeeze Tanya’s hand, hoping she hadn’t just destroyed the love triangle by accident. “One more hand, then call it a night? You guys have your boat to catch.”

Slow, reluctant nods all around. Tanya waived her deal, and Gillian seemed lost in thought, so Lucrecia dealt, and to her own annoyance she won the round again. She couldn’t look at Tanya’s sad eyes or the boys’ narrow eyed caution and ask further questions, which left Gillian. Looking at her, she drew a blank on a question to ask for a couple of heartbeats, before a notion came to mind.

“Why did you turn down clothes as stakes earlier?”

Gillians eyes snapped wide in genuine shock, drunk or not, and she raised her head slowly. But no one objected, and so she answered.

“You have nicer tits than me, and I didn’t want our guests distracted.”

Lu shot Gill a mildly sharp glance. Gill effectively inviting the room to stare at Lucrecia’s breasts was not the most awkward situation she’d ever been in, or all that close, really, but it was not what she’d expected of this evening.

Across the room, Tanya recovered enough of her composure to smile, while the boys were politely staring directly ahead, to their credit.

Since no one spoke, eventually Lucrecia coughed. “Well, ask a stupid question, I suppose…”

It did at least appear to take everyone’s mind off the evening’s other revelations slightly, and they broke on slightly warmer terms. The miners had to catch their boat, and the way the evening panned out, might never be seen again, leaving all three of the love triangle a bit mournful.

_Note to self: This game is not designed for honest people._

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to stress once more that nothing here is intended to serve as advice or as role models (or cautionary tales, for that matter). Please review. Compliments are not compulsory.
> 
>  
> 
> OC Guide: 
> 
> Tanya: Military Student, participant in love triangle
> 
> J: Miner, subject of love triangle.
> 
> Kell: His friend, 6'5'' perpetually amused.
> 
> Mabel: Runs Demestina's accomodation
> 
> Demestina/Demmie Gatharian: Undergrad, member of Hojo's swimsuited entourage.
> 
> Sue Heilasse: Pharmacy student, recently lost a hand in Bottomswell attack on Junon beach.
> 
> Harry: firing range manager at Beginner's Hall.
> 
> Mystery man in Sealskin Coat: A mystery man in a sealskin coat. Presumably affiliated with the fishermen.


End file.
